I think the best is the carousel one its just a shame your not more on side with her, I like the details in the cats eyes but the turtle looks fuzzy, I am a newbie though so whether thats any help :er:

Nice choice with the Nikon D3000. There is plenty better out there but for about 500 dollars it is an easy and cost effective way to get into the DSLR market. I got mine last November and have really enjoyed using it.

I am a beginner but for what it's worth, I really like the cat's eyes photo. The only thing that I see that might make it a little better is to crop from the right to cut out the background in the upper right corner and get tighter on the eyes. The carousel photo is also good, but it looks a little soft on her face. The focus point looks like it is on her shoulder. You did a very good job of capturing her expression though.